


The Doll and the Masked Man

by misslenabrooke



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Trans Female Character, if you think i'm ever gonna stop with the dahlia content ding dong you're wrong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-27 04:04:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21112373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misslenabrooke/pseuds/misslenabrooke
Summary: An AU where a certain down on his luck uncle resurfaces as Paperinik after Moonvasion. The first person he saves is a plucky young girl who... reminds Paperinik of someone.Meanwhile, Dahlia Duck is missing her uncle. Not realizing he's much closer than she thinks, she finds a friend in Duckburg's newest hero.





	The Doll and the Masked Man

**Author's Note:**

> This AU belongs to my good friend, sapphyreblayze on Tumblr! I'm just a dummy who decided to write words. Btw, fight scenes are my weakness and it shows whoops ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> ANYWAYS ENJOY also if anyone wants to hmu on Tumblr it's @gosalynmcquack yeehaw

This heroing thing was hard. Even in such a theft and villainy infested town like Duckburg, it seemed like Darkwing and Gizmoduck were somehow able to keep it under control! Paperinik didn't have a bunch of gizmos or endurance for days, just a _ really _ bad temper. Other than that, he was painfully average as far as heroes came (at least, that's what he assumed). But that only made him want to work much harder.

The patrol shifts lately had been very uneventful, causing Paperinik to literally get tired of it. _ Why is it that everything happens when I'm not here to do anything about it? _ He found himself about to fall asleep in an alley when a loud noise jolted him back to reality.

Said noise led Paperinik to the nearby bank, where he saw a rather small tank in front of it (some Beagle Boys inside). He ran inside upon hearing the noise again, which turned out to be tiny explosions. The civilians inside were mostly hiding behind the counter, with the exception of a girl who was being grabbed by the arm by a Beagle Boy.

"So we meet again, H-" He said before she cut him off, trying to pull away.

"That's not my name! It's _ Dahlia!" _ The girl appeared to be in her early teens. She had white hair that was up in a ponytail going down to her shoulders, wearing a red blouse paired with denim overalls and black Mary Janes. Something about Dahlia, the look in her eyes… It made Paperinik a little emotional.

The Beagle Boy (Paperinik never bothered remembering any of their names) shrugged. "Dahlia or not, you're still one of them brats Ma's always on my case about capturing. So you're coming with us!"

If one thing made Paperinik _ furious, _it was seeing someone mistreat a child. He rushed over and pushed the Beagle Boy away from Dahlia, shielding her as he fought. 

"Go pick on some garden gnomes somewhere, you gremlin! Only the lowest of the low pick on children," PK was lucky he got his hands on a new model of the Barksian modulator, albeit in beta, because his voice would've given him away instantly. He turned to face Dahlia. "Get behind the counter. This might get a little rough."

She did as told, although unable to help herself from watching the scene unfold. There was something about the masked man that felt so strong, yet comforting.

As Paperinik cornered all three Beagle Boys, he had a realization. The way all of his attacks seemingly rolled out themselves, how his mind was on not much else other than the sake of this little girl… It was exactly how he felt in his fight against Lunaris months earlier (for him, anyway), thinking of the kids back on Earth. He tried to shake off the weird feeling that maybe he'd seen this girl before. That maybe he'd _ known _ her. She reminded him of himself as a kid, so much it was a little scary.

"Wait until Uncle Scrooge hears about this.." Dahlia said to herself.

* * *

It seemed to everyone in the bank that the fight lasted hours, although it was only about twenty minutes at best. When all was said and done and the cops showed up, Paperinik immediately dodged all the reporters and gawkers to go check on Dahlia. She was standing there in silence.

He put an arm around her. "You okay, kiddo?"

She nodded. PK couldn't tell if she was about to start sobbing or not.

"Sorry you had to see all that. Where were your parents, if I may ask?"

Dahlia smiled softly. "It's okay, really. This kind of thing happens a lot for me. Mom just sent me out with a friend to run some quick errands, but I guess he got distracted."

Thank goodness. If she started to cry, Paperinik wouldn't know what he'd do, and it'd break his heart. "This kind of thing happens a lot for you? That sounds terrible."

She shrugged. "This is probably only the fourth most dangerous thing that's happened to me this week. But as a Senior Junior Woodchuck, I'm prepared for anything!"

Aaaaand, there goes his heart. Just the phase 'Senior Junior Woodchuck' made him tear up a little. Nevertheless, he smiled back. "Well, that's amazing! I was a Woodchuck myself back in the day… for a week. I kept getting in trouble," Paperinik chuckled at the memory. "You said your name was Dahlia, right?"

Dahlia lit up as she nodded. "That's me! In all honesty, it's a new name. I'm still getting the hang of this whole letting myself be a girl thing," She twirled a piece of her hair with her finger. "I-I'm trans, I just came out. Thought to myself, why not try out some things, you know?"

He nodded. "It's a beautiful name, and you're just such a doll! Wait a second. Dahlia, doll.." He too lit up. "Dollie! That would be an equally beautiful nickname!"

This seemed to make her absolutely _ euphoric. _ "You're right! I love that!" Dollie stimmed happily for a moment. "But the more important thing is, what should I call _ you_, sir?"

The hero chuckled softly, pulling her in for a hug. "Well, kiddo.. just call me Paperinik."


End file.
